This week, we’ve had several kids in the library looking for books on various sea creatures. It’s project time! Lucky for us, we happen to have a large number of books on everything from whales to sharks to jellyfish, so the kids are leaving with two books each on whatever species they’ve chosen. (So much better than an entire class doing a project on corn–in French! Uh, our selection there is small, to say the least.)

But it reminded me of a recent story I read about a “Christmas Whale”, the loneliest whale in the ocean. This particular whale has been swimming a channel in the North Pacific Ocean since at least 1989. That’s when researchers started tracking him. A Baleen whale (a cetacean without teeth) uses sound to communicate and has a very particular vocalization frequency range (between 10 and 31 Hertz). This one, however, vocalizes at 52 hertz…much higher than the other whales in his category.

Scientists have been listening to whales in the North Pacific for years and usually pick up this particular whale’s vocalizations between August and December (which is why they call it the Christmas Whale). Here’s where it gets sad. While whales use their vocalizations to attract other whales, to find a mate or family member, no other whale on record has ever answered the Christmas Whale’s call. It simply drifts along the corridor of microphones, sending out whale-message after whale-message, only to finally swim off. Alone. Every year. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it?

It’s possible the other whales just can’t “hear” the Christmas Whale, since its song is so different. Or maybe they won’t acknowledge it, sensing it as something foreign. Either way, it must be a lonely life for C.W. You can read more about this interesting creature on the Wood’s Hole Ocean Oceanographic Institute’s page. Or you can listen to a recording of the 52 hertz whale vocalizations at at NOAA here.

So far, no one has asked about books on whales, but I’ll certainly suggest this if we get any more students in to do projects.

Once again, we’re planning for our summer event called PAWS TO READ. It’s a wonderful program we’ve done for the past three summers and we’re looking forward to having our pals Stryder and Sandra back at the library. So, just what is Paws to Read?

This is a wonderful program for reluctant readers aged 6 – 10. They visit the library once a week (while we’re closed) and spend a short time reading to our fluffy friend Stryder. Stryder is a standard poodle who has been specially trained as a therapy dog for children. He loves to listen to kids read and he’s really patient. He comes to the library with his owner Sandra who also helps.

If you have a reluctant reader who would like to participate this summer, please give us a call or come to the library to sign up. Your child must be able to read, but might have an issue like lack of confidence or reading issues that prevent him or her from enjoying books. We’re taking names right through to the end of June, and then we’ll set up a schedule for July and August sessions.

If you’re fluent in Latin, you’ll know what the title is all about. What if you just want to impress your friends? Here’s a handy list of Latin sayings that you can pepper into your daily conversation (I know I’m going to!).

This weekend, my husband and I watched a new documentary called “The Elephant in the Living Room”. At first, I thought it would another movie about people with exotic animals as pets, but this was so much more than that. The movie follows an Ohio law officer who deals with exotic pets and their misplacement in our society on a regular basis, while explaining the exotic pet subculture along the way. One of the main stories throughout the movie dealt with a man who was given a lion cub as a way to help him out of his depression, and several years (and more lions) later, he begins the biggest fight of their lives, struggling to keep the pets he’s come to love in a place that doesn’t want them.

This movie was a real eye opener about people and the subculture of exotic pets that most of us probably don’t believe is a problem. But it certainly is, and as more and more wild animals (poisonous snakes, crocodiles, lions, spiders and much, much more) make their way into our natural world because their owners have lost control or don’t know what to do with the “pets” anymore, the general population is at risk. You can get a bit of a feel for the movie here (but I’d recommend going out and renting it this weekend!):

I’ve talked in the past about some great books we have at the library about people who start up their own “zoos” after purchasing a few exotic animals, and the lack of regulations in Canada especially, that allow people to do this. Here’s a link to a past post.If you’d like to read more about the problem, feel free to come in and ask for some books about the subject. I can see this problem getting worse as the world makes it easier for people to bring in animals and purchase animals from breeders without having enough knowledge about the risks. One of the most frightening things they showed in this movie were the live auctions, held in barns and arenas, for the purpose of selling exotic animals to the general public. To see a young boy of five or six proudly holding a baby crocodile or a container filled with a rare venomous snake is terrifying. Not only are people putting themselves in danger, but once they tire of these animals, they’re being let go in the wild. Wouldn’t you love to come across a 9 foot python in your backyard someday? The people in Florida are having just such a problem. Because of some stupid person, pythons are now breeding in the everglades and animal control officers say they won’t ever be able to eradicate the beasts from the area now. Pythons are there for good.

(Did you know that almost all of the exotic animals you see at Ray’s Reptiles shows have been rescued….and from places as close by as Brockville! Think about that the next time they show up in our area with that giant yellow snake! That was someone’s PET at one point!)

Okay, enough ranting for today. Go out and see the movie. Talk about the idea with your kids. Come in and get some books. Educating ourselves is the only way we’ll gain control over something like this.

Today is our final session for Paws to Read with our pal, Stryder (and Sandra!…can’t forget her). We’ve had a wonderful time this year getting to know Stryder better and he was such a great listener! Eight kids took part this summer and we alternated weeks so that everyone had a chance to read several times. Stryder and his brother Bree were wonderful listeners and we think they both enjoyed the stories very much (especially the ones about animals!).

Stryder getting ready to listen to a story

Stryder’s brother Bree

Thanks again to Sandra for giving up her time each week to come and listen and provide this wonderful service to kids who are a little insecure about reading. We’ve heard from many of the parents who said how much their children have enjoyed coming each week and getting to know the dogs. Hopefully, we’ll do it all again next summer!

It was a fun Friday night at the library when a group of stuffed animals stopped in for a sleepover. The weather was sweltering outside, but we had fun inside the cool library. Here’s a picture of everyone before the fun really started!

Right away, some of the animals wanted to play on the kids computer. There are so many fun games that they had trouble choosing! Looks like Scottie got those headphones before anyone else could listen!

But of course, no one could resist picking out a movie to watch, either! I don’t know, but I think Frankie was trying to talk Bearden and Neighble into watching a horror movie!!! What would their owners think! We quickly picked something else so no one would have nightmares!

While we had our backs turned, that crazy guy Elliott got himself into a tight spot. How did he climb up there anyway??

Rosemary got the ladder and tried to get him down….

Neighble, Bearden and some of the others watched in fear!

We had no choice but to call in the Fire Department! Thanks to Mr. Black for coming to Elliott’s rescue!!

But meanwhile……….

Scottie and Avery were getting up to all sorts at the photocopier! And just what were they making copies of???

Finally, everyone was so hungry, we decided to order a pizza! Bearden and Neighble got right on the phone!

And everyone had a slice or two. Don’t forget the pop!After dinner, we decided to play a game of hide and seek….everyone did a GREAT job of hiding!

And hey…is that Scottie on the surfboard?? Hang ten, man!

Where’s Piggie? Everyone looked for him!

Wait…..there’s Piggie!

Before it was time to sleep, we all enjoyed a bedtime story. Rosemary read us one of her favourites!

And then we tucked everyone into bed, gave them lots of kisses and turned down the library lights………..